True Misunderstanding
by WolfPyre
Summary: Just another adventure for True! Sorry I suck at summaries! This one is actually complete and I will be posting it in 3 parts. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

I found this fic buried in my files and realized I never posted it so I dusted it off and fixed it up! There is a scene that might seem out of character for Vin and Chris but that is where the muse took me! Enjoy!

M7M7M7

True weaved her way through town being sure to hide the bottle of whiskey she'd taken as there were quite a few busybodies milling about. Josiah was on patrol so she headed towards the back of the church and called on Air to lift her up onto the roof. It was out of the way and not easily accessible so she figured this was the best place to go where no one would see her.

Straddling the peak of the roof, she pulled the electric blue pill from her pocket, popped it in her mouth, and swallowed it down with a swig of whiskey. Man she loved how she felt after taking that little pill. It was like floating on a cloud and eating your favorite pie all at once. The bottle was only a third full when she took it so she drank most of it then slid down the roof so she could push her feet against the eave and lay back on the incline. God she loved pie. After a few minutes, her whole body relaxed and she stared up into the sky. She didn't know how long she laid there before she heard something on the side of the church, but found she really didn't care enough to find out what it was.

"True?"

True craned her head to look down. "Hi Creed! C'mon up here an sit a spell."

His eyes widened when he saw the whiskey bottle. "Are you crazy!"

"Yep!" She giggled.

"C'mon over here and I'll help you down." He wasn't sure exactly how he was going to do that since she was so high up but he'd figure something out. There was no way he was going up there.

"Naaah. I'm staying riiiiight here." She slid a little and knocked a shingle off. "Oops."

"Dammit!" Creed growled. "Guess I'm going up there after all." He muttered to himself as he put a ladder Josiah had left outside against the church. It took all of his courage to climb up until he was level with the roof and crawl over to True. He grabbed hold of her arms and pulled her back up to the peak, doing his best to not look down.

True smiled and held out the bottle to him. "Want some?"

"NO! I swear True, if you don't come down with me now I'm gonna…" He paused when saw her eyes. It was obvious to him she'd done something more than drink whiskey. "What the hell…True, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothin. Absolutely positively nothin."

Creed didn't know what to do. He knew if he didn't get help she'd fall, but he didn't think he could climb down on his own now that he was up there. Despite knowing True was going to kill him when she was sober and the fact he was terrified, he leaned over the edge a bit and looked down to see if anyone was below them. "Mr. Josiah!"

Josiah was just heading inside after his patrol and was startled when he heard someone call his name. "Creed, what the Devil? True?"

"Mr. Josiah I need help. True's drinkin and she aint right. I cant get her ta go down."

"Shit." Josiah swore uncharacteristically. He ran towards the saloon, returning in minutes with Chris and Rhianna followed by Buck, Ezra and JD. Creed's father wasn't far behind.

Chris glared up at Creed. "What the hell were you two thinkin?"

"It werent me. I saw her up here and she didn't look right. I was afraid she was gonna get hurt so I came up here ta get her down. Now I cant get down."

Chris, knowing the boy was afraid of heights, waved JD over. "Go get a rope."

Rhianna was standing quietly, staring up at Creed. She had to admit she was quite impressed Creed climbed up there despite his fear. He was more like Canyon that she had realized. She could see real concern in his face and knew something must really be wrong with her cousin. She tried to read True's mind, but it was a jumbled mess of thoughts and emotions. It would take a little bit for her to piece it together.

JD returned and Chris took the rope, climbed the ladder and slowly made his way to Creed. "Put this around your waist. I'll help you climb down first." Creed quickly did as instructed. He didn't want to spend one minute more up here than necessary.

Chris helped him over to the ladder, the braced his feet and held the rope. "Go ahead and climb down. I've got the rope and will follow you, okay?"

With a nod, Creed climbed down. He was never so grateful then when his feet hit solid ground. He wasted no time in running to his father and throwing his arms around his waist. That was one of the most frightening things he'd ever done and he needed to feel the safety his fathers arms provided. The men watched for a moment then turned back to the matter at hand, leaving the boy alone so he could compose himself.

Meanwhile, Rhianna had worked out what was flying through True's head. "Holy mother of god!"

Chris looked up sharply. "What?"

"She is drunk…"

"Yes I know that!" He growled.

"No, you don't understand." Rhianna took a quick look to make sure Mr. Tucker was far enough away to not hear her. "She took Kyrloghe!"

"What?"

"Chris, aint that the stuff she took before, when she cut herself up to find that growth thing?" JD asked quietly.

"Was the pill blue?" Rhianna asked alarmed.

"Yes."

"Oh, no. We have an extremely large problem. She cannot take Kyrloghe and drink, Chris. She loses control of her powers! If she should start to fall, she will not be able to use her powers to catch herself."

"Ah hell." Chris quickly returned to the ladder and climbed up.

"Be careful! If she gets angry or upset things will not go well."

"What do you mean?"

"If she decides to fight and use one of her powers it may not do what it's supposed to. Something small could turn into a devastating catastrophe."

"She's that powerful?"

"Yes." None of the men knew what her cousin could really do but she did and it could go very badly if something set True off.

Chris swore and slid over to True. "Hey sweetheart."

"Hi Chris! Want some?" She offered the bottle.

Chris, realizing this would be his only chance to get the whiskey away from her, took the bottle. "Thanks." He took a swig to stead his nerves. They sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. "What are you doing up here?"

"Relaxin." She looked at Chris. "Where's Vin?"

"Still at Netties."

"Figures." She reached to take the bottle back but Chris pulled it away. "Gimme some."

He was about to tell her no, when he noticed there was barely a swallow left. Remembering what Rhianna said, he relutantly handed it over.

True put the bottle to her lips, tilted it to take a swig and frowned when only a few drops fell into her mouth. "Well fuck." She laid her head back and closed her eyes. "Guess we'll have ta get more."

"Why don't we get down from here and get some?"

"In a minute." She reached up and rubbed the stubble on his cheek. To her, the coarse hair felt as soft as a powder puff. "I'm feeling reallllly good."

Chris took her hand. "I can see that."

"Do ya know when Vin's gonna come back?"

"I expect tomorrow."

"Ah, it don't matter anyway. He'll just go to Laurens. Maybe I should set that fuckin house on fire, then he wont have nothin ta work on." She slurred. "When are you an Mary gonna get married?" The drug and alcohol were really starting to affect her and she was having trouble stringing her thoughts together.

"When the time is right I suppose."

"Okay."

A few more silent moments passed. "True?" When she didn't answer, he sat up to get a better look at her face. Her eyes were open, but unfocused, and she had a little smile on her face. It appeared the full effect of the drug and whiskey were taking hold.

"Rhianna?" He called down.

She's floating in her own world now. You should be able to move her without her even noticing."

Chris carefully slid True towards the ladder and handed her over to Josiah, who had climbed up to meet him. "I'll get her inside." He carried her into the Church and back to his room, the rest of the group trailing behind him.

Rhianna hurried to her side, put her hand on True's forehead, and closed her eyes. After a few moments, she looked up at Chris. "She's down deep. We have to get as much of this out of her system as we can."

"JD! Go get Nathan."

Nathan returned in record time. Rhianna quickly explained what they needed to do, and Nathan administered an emetic. They sat her up to lean her over a bucket and within minutes, True was vomiting.

After an hour, Rhianna checked her again. "Better. I can hear her thoughts now. She will sleep a few hours but she should be fine…at least until I kill her!"

Chris sighed in relief. "Keep an eye on her. I'm gonna go get Vin."


	2. Chapter 2

Vin and Nettie stepped onto the porch just as Chris rode into the front yard. "What's wrong?"

Chris dismounted. "Lets go inside."

Once seated at the table, Chris quickly ran down what had happened in town.

"Is she all right?" Vin asked, clearly alarmed.

"Rhianna says she will be fine."

"Why in the world would True do that to herself?" Nettie questioned.

"Ask your surrogate son." Chris spat out angrily.

"What's that supposed ta mean?" Vin growled back.

"It means she did this because she think you don't care about her!"

Vin rolled his eyes. "Not this again!"

The gesture confirmed Chris's thoughts that Vin was acting like a love sick school boy. "Yes again!"

"I aint spendin too much time with Lauren!"

"No? The tell me the last time ya ate supper with her? Or put her to bed?"

Vin opened his mouth to reply, but found he didn't have an answer. "That don't mean I's ignorin her!"

"What do you call it? You're acting like a little boy with a crush! Maybe I should treat you like one an beat some sense into you!"

Vin jumped up, knocking his chair to the floor. "Fuck you Chris! Ya aint got no call talkin to me like that!"

Nettie stood up and grabbed Vin's arm. "Stop it! Now." When she was sure she had his attention she motioned to the chair. "Set it up right and sit down. And if I hear that language again you'll be getting a taste of soap!"

Vin did as he was told and threw himself into the chair. Nettie frowned. "Boy, your attitude is not helping."

"Whatever." Vin replied petuantly, not realizing he sounded just like True.

Nettie took Vin's chin in her hand. "You aint too old for me ta take a belt ta your backside young man."

Vin wrenched his chin from her grasp. "You aint my ma!" He stood up so quickly, Nettie lost her balance and fell to the floor. Vin stared in horror at what he did. "Nettie, I'm so sorry."

"That's it! You want to act like a child, I'm gonna treat you like one!" Chris took him by the arm and started pulling him outside towards the barn.

"Hold it!" Nettie got to her feet and glared at both men for not even offering her a hand up. "While I agree with you Chris I think we all need to take a minute to calm down. Both of you take a seat. Now."

Once seated she waited several minutes for both men to regain control of their emotions. "Now I'm gonna speak and you both are gonna listen. Understood?"

Both men nodded. "Yes Ma'am."

"Chris I understand why you are upset but you going at Vin like that will not solve anything. He's as stubborn as a mule and you know he will dig his feet in if you start yelling and threatening him." She placed her hand on Chris's arm. "Now did True say she thought Vin didn't care about her?"

"Not in so many words."

"And have you ever known that child to hold back what she thinks?"

Chris's lips quirked. "No. Can't say I have."

"Then why do you think she feels that way?"

"You didn't see her face when she said Vin was probably going to Lauren's after seeing you Nettie. Even said she should burn down the house we are working on for Lauren."

Nettie turned to Vin. "Have you been spending time with True?"

"I've been trying."

Chris opened his mouth to comment but quickly closed it when Nettie pointed her finger at him. "I'm not talking to you now."

When Nettie was sure Chris was not going to interrupt she continued. "Have you son? Sometimes a person loses track of time when they are busy."

"I've been tryin to get Lauren's house done before if gets colder." He sat for a minute thinking things through then looked up at Nettie with guilt in his eyes. " I really haven't been there for supper. Lauren's been bringing food so we can eat together before I start working again. Trues been in bed by the time I'm done for the night."

"There's no rush to get it done. Mary and I spoke shortly after the fire and she was well aware that it could take a while for the new house to be built and that Lauren could be living with her for a time."

Vin stared at the table. "I'm so stupid I couldn't see I was hurtin her." He yelped when Nettie took hold of his ear and pulled him to his feet. "What did I say would happen if I heard you calling yourself that again?"

Realizing his error, he tried to backpedal. "I didn't mean..." He looked to Chris for help but the man simply sat there smiling.

"What did I say?"

"Aw Nettie don't make me say it!"

She picked up a spoon the was on the table and swatted him several times in quick succession. "I asked you a question young man."

Vin blushed. "You said you'd make Chris take his belt to me."

That got Chris's attention. For all of his bluster and threats a few minutes ago he couldn't see himself giving Vin a whipping even though he was like a little brother. "Um Nettie..."

"What? You were dragging him out to the barn earlier. Now you get to make good on your threat." She let Vin go and told him to stay put then motioned Chris to follow her to the other side of the room. "That boy is going to be eaten up by guilt over what True did because he hadn't been paying attention. I know my boy. If he doesn't feel like he's been punished he's going to beat himself up. He needs to stop putting himself down and feeling like he failed whenever that girl does something crazy and I don't have the strength it's gonna take to get through that stubborn head. Besides I made him a promise last time and you're going to keep it for me."

"Im not his pa."

"And I'm not his ma. He's still so young and we are the closest thing he has to them so it's up to us to set him straight."

Chris sighed and nodded. "All right. But I'm not going to force him."

"You won't have to." She went back over to Vin. "I was going give you a pass on your behavior earlier when you were acting no older than True, but I just can't allow you to act like that or talk down on yourself. Chris is going to take his belt to you as I promised. Now bend over the table."

Vin felt all of the blood leave his face. He never thought Chris would agree do it! "But Nettie!"

"Now or you can drop your britches too. If I remember correctly I promised it would be on the bare but I'm feeling generous so you do as I say unless that's what you want."

Vin knew he didn't have to do this. Neither Nettie or Chris would make him do it. If he didn't feel so guilty he would just walk out the door but part of him felt like he deserved what Chris was going to dish out. He'd never had a family before and the thought of leaving made him sick and disobeying Nettie, the woman that he'd come to think of as his mother, was not something he could do and live with himself. With one last look at her and back at Chris he bent over.

Chris didn't waste any time, wanting to get this over with and get back to True. He pulled his belt off and took his place behind Vin. "You understand why I'm doing this?" He asked much like he would have one of the girls.

"Yeah. Just go on and get it over with." He said in a shaky voice.

Chris looked at Nettie, who nodded, and then lashed the belt down.

Vin cried out, not able to stay quiet. "Damn it Chris. You don't gotta take a strip off a my hide with the first lick!"

Chris and Nettie shared a look at the very True-like comment. Like sister like brother. He continued to swat the backside before him until Nettie motioned that he'd had enough. He put his belt back on and stepped back so Nettie could give him the comfort he knew Vin wouldn't accept from him.

Vin couldn't remember a time when he'd been in such pain from a licking. Damn Chris could dish it out. Now he understood why the girls behaved better for him than anyone else. He accepted Nettie's embrace, wiped his eyes on his sleeve and pulled himself together. After a moment he stood and turned to Chris. "Sorry Cowboy. I was out of line and acting like a fool."

Chris pulled him into a quick hug. "S'all right. I really didn't want to do that but Nettie is a force to be reckoned with. I was afraid I'd be next if I told her no." He joked.

Nettie swatted him with the spoon, causing him hiss in pain. "You best not or there's more where that came from. Now, you both get back to town and take care of True."

The last thing Vin wanted to do was sit on a horse but True needed him and he wasn't going to let her down again. "Let's ride Cowboy."


	3. Chapter 3

True woke with start and slowly opened her eyes, wincing as the light streaming through the window increased the pounding in her head. "Fuck." She croaked and pulled the pillow over her head. Said pillow was immediately removed and she squinted up at Rhianna. "Go away and let me die in peace."

Rhianna opened her mouth to give True the tongue lashing of her life but closed it with a sigh at the pathetic look her cousin was giving her. Verbalizing her thoughts on True's stupidity could wait. She reached down and placed her hands on her head and sent enough healing to reduce the headache to a dull roar. "What? You being stingy? Can't you get rid of it?"

"Absolutely not. You deserve some pain for being an imbecile."

It took True a few seconds to remember what happened and she groaned. "I'm gonna be in enough pain later once the guys are done with me. C'mon help a girl out would ya?"

Rhianna tried to ignore the big blue eyes her peering up at her but couldn't. "Fine. But if you are not punished to my satisfaction I'm going to give it back ten fold."

"How long I been out?"

"Approximately 2 hours. We were able to administer an emetic shortly after you finished the whiskey so it was not in your system long."

She had just finished relieving Trues headache when the door opened and Nathan stepped into the room. "You've got a lot to answer for little miss." He fussed as he crossed over to the bed and sat down next to True, placing a gentle hand on her cheek. "How ya feeling? Feel sick or any pain?"

"Rhianna took care of it."

"Well I don't know anything about that stuff you took so you're gonna stay right here until I'm sure your okay say you can get up." He poured her some water. "Drink this then I want you to rest."

"But I just woke up!" True whined, not wanting to be confined to the bed even though she felt like she'd been run over by a wagon.

"You listen here, you did this to yourself so don't go complaining. If you get out of this bed before I say so I'm gonna bust your little backside. Don't think you want that considering all you got coming do you?"

True looked down and played with a loose thread on the blanket. "No sir."

"Then you lay back and do as your told."

True reluctantly settled back on the pillows. "Where's Vin and Chris?" Normally one of them is there when she ended up needing Nathan's medical expertise.

"Chris rode out to Nettie's to get Vin. They should be here soon." Nathan tucked the blanket around her. "Now enough talk. Close your eyes and rest. If you behave we just might be able to give Josiah his bed back for tonight."

Vin and Chris arrived just before nightfall. Both were grateful True would be okay and decided to hold off on any discussions until the morning. Nathan allowed Vin to carry True back to the boarding house and up to their room with strict instruction that she stay in bed until morning.

Vin was exhausted after the day he'd had and decided an early night sounded good. Besides he needed to keep an eye on True. He tucked her in and carefully laid down on his bed.

True was so worried about his reaction to her escapade that she didn't even notice how slowly he moved or the wince when his backside hit the bed. "I'm sorry Vin."

"I'm sure you are."

"You mad?"

Vin was too tired to get into a discussion about what happened. "You worried everyone. We'll talk about it in the morning so you can explain yourself to all of us."

M7M7M7

The next morning True woke to find herself alone. She got up and dressed quickly but walked slowly down the stairs to the breakfast table, trying to delay the inevitable. All six men and Rhianna looked up when she entered the room. She saw that the only open seat was between Vin and Chris and figured that was by design.

Chris placed some eggs and bacon on her plate.

"Eat."

"I'm not..." she stopped at the look he gave her. "Yes sir." When she ate enough to satisfy him he told everyone to meet at the Church so they can discuss last night.

Rhianna could see how miserable True was and put her arm around her. She already read her cousins thoughts and knew why she ended up on the church roof. She also knew how angry but relieved everyone would be once they found out. From what she was able to discern they all thought something was really troubling True. "We have got to work on your impulse control Ennoilid."

Once at the Church Vin guided her to stand in front of everyone. "All right. Let's hear it."

True looked down and twisted her fingers nervously. "Um well I was lookin in the clinic for something to put in Jonathan's food to get him sick and found the bottle of whiskey and Kyrloghe. I figured I might as well enjoy myself."

Chris and Vin shared a look of incredulity. "So you did this to have fun?" Vin asked. Chris read him the riot act over not spending time with her and he was struggling to believe her actions were due to something so simple.

"Yes sir."

"That pill of yours wasn't in a place you could easily find it. I know you didn't just stumble onto it." Nathan stated.

True was hoping no one picked up on that. "I kinda got a little nosy and started poking around in your stuff. I found the whiskey easy enough and when I found the pill I figured why not?"

Rhianna was not able to stay quiet. "Why not? How about you could have died from the combination or destroyed the town if one of your powers went haywire."

True's eyes flashed with anger at her cousins intrusion and she took a step towards her. "Me and Canyon used to do it all the time! I was fine!"

"So fine you did not notice Creed until he called your name or feel Chris hand you to Josiah to get you off of roof!"

Chris moved between them. "Enough. Both of you." He looked at Vin and after he nodded turned to Nathan. "It was your privacy she invaded and whiskey she stole. You should be the one that punishes her for it. Vin will take care of the rest tomorrow."

That got True's attention. Nathan tended to be easily swayed when it came to punishments. Then she heard the rest of Chris's words and felt her stomach drop. She wasn't going to sit for a week!

Nathan thought on it for a minute and realized they were right. She would have never done this to Josiah or Ezra. She needed to learn to respect him and his privacy. "All right." He picked up an abandoned shutter slat. "Josiah can we borrow your room again?"

M7M7M7

True laid on her bed in misery. To her dismay Nathan was not an easy touch when it came to messing with his stuff and stealing from him. He was very thorough with that devil be dammed shutter slat. The pain was just going away when Vin came and took his belt to her for putting herself in danger. He'd only been gone a half hour when she heard a soft knock then someone enter and sat on the bed beside her. "You all right?"

True looked at Chris with red rimmed eyes and carefully maneuvered herself onto his lap. He pulled her close and let her cry herself out. "What you did yesterday was really dangerous. You could have really hurt yourself or someone else."

"I know."

"I want the pills you kept." He gave a small smile at the look of surprise on her face. "I know you too well little girl."

"There is only one left." She yelped when he lifted her up and swatted her hard twice. "Want to try that again or should I spank you for lying to me?"

True didn't know why she even tried to deceive him. Old habits and all that. She slid off his lap and got a small vial with two pills and after a moment of hesitation picked up the one she stowed away in a kerchief. "This is all of them."

Chris put them in his pocket and pulled her back onto his lap. "Why did you do it?" He asked wanting to be sure it was truly on a whim and not something deeper.

"I just did it to have fun. Me and Canyon used to do it all of the time so when I found the pills and whiskey I just decided to do it. It made me feel close to Canyon." She looked up at him. "I already told everyone this. Why are you asking me again?"

"When we were on the roof you said something about Vin being with Lauren again. I know he's been spending a lot of time with her and hasn't been around much. I wanted to make sure that wasn't why."

"You thought I'd be upset Vin wasn't around to watch me like a hawk? Are you losing your marbles?"

"Yeah I must be." Chris chuckled and kissed her head. "I'll call you when it's time for supper." He stopped at the door. "And True? Vin might not be watching you but I am. Remember that next time you get it in your head to pull something like this."

True grinned. "Aye aye Captain!"


End file.
